Talks between US Ambassador and Adjarian leader postponed

Scheduled talks between US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Miles and Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze have been postponed. The Georgian State Chancellery told Rosbalt that the talks have been moved back to December 17 or 18. The postponement is due to the fact that Georgian Government Minister Zurab Zhvaniya, who was scheduled to meet with Abashidze after Miles, went to Gaidar Aliev's funeral in Baku today.

It is expected that Miles will offer a guarantee that the situation in Adjaria will not radically change if National Movement leader Mikhail Saakashvili is elected president on January 4. Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze told journalists that since Gaidar Aliev was his long-time friend he would also travel to Baku today.